House Considers Farm Legislation

Farmers Could Plant Crop Of Choice

Congressional agriculture committees are writing the 1995 Farm Bill, which will regulate farming in Virginia and the rest of the United States for the next five years.

Under the Republican plan to balance the budget in seven years, $13.4 billion must be cut from farm programs.

The House committee is considering today a proposal called ``Freedom to Farm'' that would affect Virginia farmers who grow crops such as corn, wheat and cotton.

In 1994, federal payments to Virginia farms totaled about $34 million, according to the Virginia Agricultural Statistics Service.

Payments to all U.S. farms totaled $7.88 billion last year. Virginia's share was among the lowest 20 states. Texas was tops at $863 million.

Government payments takes several forms, according to agriculture officials:

* Money is paid for land taken out of production as part of a conservation program. For Virginia last year, the total was nearly $7 million.

* Programs are in place for milk, forestry and many other agricultural products. That totaled about $17 million last year to state farms.

* Direct payments, called deficiency payments, are paid for certain crops, including corn, wheat, rice and cotton, if the market price is less than the target price set by the government. To participate, farmers agree not to plant on a portion of their land. Virginians in 1994 received about $9 million in deficiency payments.

The ``Freedom to Farm'' proposal would break the link between production and payments, said David Orden, an associate professor of agriculture economics at Virginia Tech.

Farmers would have complete freedom to plant what they want and how much they want of these crops and would receive guaranteed, but declining, support payments for the next seven years, he said.

One possible effect in Virginia would be to lower feed costs to livestock producers if more grains were planted, he said.

The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, whose 115,000 members include 90 percent of the state's farmers, is studying the potential effects of the ``Freedom to Farm'' proposal.

The Farm Bureau said the plan has some good points, such as eliminating paperwork and providing maximum flexibility. However, it believes the program would supply lower support than the current program in lean years, and that the plan may seem like welfare for farmers if it is not linked to production.

The proposal calls for a committee appointed by Congress and the administration to decide government's role, if any, after seven years, said Orden, who is in Washington this week monitoring the hearings.

The ``Freedom to Farm'' proposal does not include the peanut program, which is important in Virginia, said Orden.

The government sets a quota, the number of pounds of peanuts a farmer can sell at a guaranteed price - currently $678 a ton, said Russell Schools, head of the Virginia Peanut Growers Association. If the grower sells all his quota, the government is not out any money. If he cannot, the government intervenes, he said.

The government will shell out the difference between the quota price and the lower price the peanuts bring for export or for crushing for oil or meal, said Schools.

Last year, the peanut program cost about $2 million to $3 million in Virginia, he estimated. He said the quota, set before two international trade agreements went into effect, was set too high. ``Most years, it costs nothing - absolutely nothing,'' said Schools.

Growers are expecting changes to the peanut program but none had been put forward by Tuesday afternoon, said Schools.

Orden said, ``We're many steps away from the end of this whole process.''